Livening up statistics teaching rooms by “LOL"

Meena Kotecha, The London School of Economics and Political Science

Meena has been teaching mathematics, statistics and operational research methods at the London School of Economics (LSE) since 2006. She has been named as an LSE Innovator. She is an LSE Teaching Prize Winner for both statistics & operational research methods (2008, 2013 and 2016). She is an invited scientific committee member for the IMA conference entitled Mathematics Education beyond 16: Pathways and Transitions scheduled for July 2017. Meena has jointly organised The Second International Conference on Mathematical Resilience scheduled for March 2017. She was included in Jisc’s list of the 50 most influential university education professionals. She is an invited member of The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) Education committee and the IMA London branch committee since October 2013. The RSS has nominated Meena as their representative at the British Congress of Mathematics Education Committee (BCME) of the Joint Mathematics Council of the UK (JMC). In 2010 the India International Society (IIF) presented her with the Glory of India Award  for her contribution to mathematics and statistics education.

Web-link: http://lti.lse.ac.uk/lse-innovators/meena-kotecha-dont-forget-your-smiles/

Abstract

This interactive presentation will commence with demystifying “LOL”.  It will share the key features and the impact of an innovative instruction method that was developed during a longitudinal study conducted specially to understand and address the following challenge:

Non-specialists (undergraduates enrolled on a range of degree programmes other than statistics) generally display negative attitudes towards the mandatory statistics courses which they are required to study as core modules of their respective degree programmes. Moreover, they report negative emotions linked to “statistics anxiety” despite having successfully completed A-Level mathematics or equivalent. This can impede their enthusiasm to engage with the courses, adversely affecting their academic performance and employment profile as a result. This presents a challenge to academics involved in delivering such courses.

The presentation will touch upon the research methodology specially developed for this study. Furthermore, the delegates will be able to hear from a few non-specialists about how the proposed instruction method transformed their attitudes towards engaging with statistics.

Academics from all related disciplines should be able to apply the proposed techniques to delivering any quantitative courses designed for non-specialists.  Furthermore, this should be of interest to statistics education researchers and all interested in the theme.